If it seems like there is a new conference every month, there’s a fairly simple explanation: Conferences provide revenue streams at a time when many legacy businesses are struggling for growth. Nielsen is looking for ways to promote and monetize its data collection; Publishers Weekly is reaching new audiences in its partnership with NYU; and existing conference sponsors and developers continue to seek out new topics and audiences to diversify their business models. Below, some of the conferences that are launching and evolving:
There are those conferences that already have their routines well-established, like bookseller favorite ABA Winter Institute, though their commitment to moving the location of the meeting keeps the event fresh. The Institute will be January 27-30 this year, this time in Minneapolis, MN, where the threat of difficult travel weather could rival the problems of Kansas City three years ago. But the need to vary locations so as to support booksellers from different regions is integral to the Institute’s mission. As for timing, ABA seems to be sticking with what has worked for them most recently with a January date. Not only does this have minimal conflicts with other meetings, but it is also early enough for publishers to be able to significantly impact the books they are trying to “make.”
ABA also launched the ABC Children’s Institute four years ago in the summer, and originally they thought to locate it near another event so in 2016, it was held in Orlando just before the ALA summer meeting there. But in response to feedback from the Children’s Book Council, the event will move to April in 2016 at a time that is more convenient for booksellers. As with the Adult version of the event, the ABA is committed to moving the meeting around each year so as to balance the travel burden for attendees from around the country. The location for 2017 is not yet announced but will be shortly.
There’s also the case of the rotating conference (which is, strictly speaking, a convention), like the BookExpo America, which returned to its previous model of going between Chicago and New York. After staying in New York for the last 7 years at the Javits Center, it spent 2016 at McCormick Place in Chicago, shifting from the end of May to the middle. Perhaps because of the drop in attendees, BEA announced it would be returning to Javits for its next conference, at the more traditional time, May 31-June 2, 2017. No word yet on whether they’ll be going back to Chicago for 2018.
Sometimes, dates change dramatically, while location stays the same. Digital Book World Conference & Expo has always been held in New York City, but last year’s move to March did not have a positive impact so they have announced plans to return to January in 2017. A notable portion of previous conferences’ programming that will be missing in 2017 will be its children’s day, Launch Kids. This year’s conference will be chaired by Ted Hill instead of DBW’s previous co-chairs, Mike Shatzkin and Michael Cader, and the emphasis will be on “tactical, actionable solutions to the challenges facing publishing.”
Some other companies are just starting to develop conference verticals. Nielsen has created conferences to share their market data with in-depth analytical presentations. It hosted its first Nielsen Children’s Book Summit on December 12, 2014 in New York. The event then moved to September 15 for 2015 and moved downtown to the Forum at Convene, and will be held this year on October 27, again at the Forum.
In addition to its children’s conference, Nielsen held its first Christian Book Summit in October 23, 2015 at the Sheraton Downtown in Nashville. Nielsen’s choice of Nashville makes sense, since the city is a hub for Christian publishers like HarperCollins Christian (Thomas Nelson, Zondervan), Simon & Schuster’s Howard Books, Worthy Publishing, and B&H Publishing Group. There’s no word on when (or if) a 2016 or 2017 conference will be yet. Recently Nielsen held its first Romance Book Summit on July 14. This Summit is part of the already-established Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference in San Diego, which is July 13-16 this year.
Another new upcoming conference is Publishers Weekly and New York University’s Center for Publishing joint one-day technology and publishing conference called PubTech Connect, which “aims to help publishers grow and evolve their businesses through adopting and adapting technological advances from a wide range of sources.” This will be held on April 20, 2017, taking it out of competition with DBW’s January conference, which is also moving away from tech/digital issues. NYU is hosting at its Global Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, Grand Hall, on Thompson Street.
With so many changes, it’s hard to keep track of what’s going on when but it’s clear that this is perceived as a growth opportunity for a number of businesses and organizations. Be sure to check the Publishing Trends Calendar for all the latest publishing events.
